Behind the plate glass doors of the Aston Martin showroom on Park Lane lies an exclusive air- conditioned world that smells of leather, reeks of money and provides temporary marble-floored garage space to a handful of the most sought after and expensive motors in the world. The Newport Pagnell-based company produces just 650 cars a year, most of which are sold to princes, playboys, sheiks and the super-rich, and Aston has provided a showroom in which such distinguished punters will feel at home.
Last week however, when Mike Tyson popped into this elegant oasis for a peek at an Aston accompanied by his entourage and half of Fleet Street, the "sales specialists" (the company is far too posh to employ straightforward salesmen) were faced with an unfamiliar dilemma. What do you do when someone with a wallet bursting with cash, a love of British sports cars, a rape conviction and a record of violent crime walks in and says he wants to buy one of your cars? Do you sell him the car and have your distinguished marque associated with the "World's Baddest Man", or do you preserve the firm's good name and tell him, sorry, but has he thought about a Jaguar?
Actually, you don't become an Aston Martin sales specialist without being smarter than that. Tyson was told that the model he was interested in, a V8 Vantage, a snip at £189,950, "did not conform to emission standards in the United States". The power of the Vantage's 5.3 litre, twin-supercharged engine is such that it is indeed only available in markets "where legislation allows".
Remarkably, given Tyson's attitude to US motoring law - he was jailed for a road-rage attack last year - this dissuaded the former heavyweight world champion. (For McLaren it was easier: when Tyson inquired about the £600,000 F1, they could honestly tell him that no more would be made.)
Publically, Aston Martin expressed ambivalence about the prospect of Iron Mike purchasing one of their cars. "Were Mike Tyson to buy an Aston Martin we wouldn't think 'oh great', but neither would we be throwing our head in our hands at the prospect," says spokeswoman Barbara Prince. "While we certainly would never condone any criminal act, we are simply the manufacturer and would never seek to intervene."
It's fair to assume however that a firm that counts Prince Charles among its customers and is quietly content to be associated with James Bond, can do without being associated with the man labelled by one paper last week as "London's most shameful tourist".
The question of celebrity endorsements is a difficult one for car companies. Many major manufacturers have embraced the idea, banking on the notion that a star can raise the profile and perception of a mass-produced model in a way that can not be achieved by stressing the merits of the actual vehicle. Citroën recently ran a campaign for the Xsara featuring Claudia Schiffer, Vauxhall enlisted the help of Ruby Wax for their Corsa ads, while Renault reinforced the success of the Nicole campaign for the Clio by marrying her off to Bob Mortimer.
Such tactics are all very well if you can guarantee your celebs are not about to be mired in scandal. Volkswagen received yards of publicity when they loaned Tara Palmer-Tompkinson a new Beetle, but since the party girl checked into rehab for treatment for drug and alcohol dependency, their PR department is eager to remind journalists that she only had the car for a week, and under the normal conditions of a test-drive. As Julia Hobsbawm of Hobsbawm Macaulay PR says, "A celebrity is only of any use until they get into a scandal, and then they're nothing but trouble."
Public relations guru Max Clifford says Aston Martin would be well advised to resist any further attempts by Tyson to buy one of their cars. "Such is the reputation of the man that it could be embarrassing to them, given the controversy he attracts. There's no doubt that such controversy in boxing means bums on seats, but it wouldn't do much for Aston Martin." As befits the acknowledged master of turning even the most appalling reputation to a client's advantage Clifford says that despite Tyson's dubious record he might yet be a suitable candidate to endorse a certain type of car.
"If I was working for a car company which wanted to market a fast and dangerous car, then I might be saying 'Mike, drive our car.' It would have to be someone willing to take a risk, but such a model would be in keeping with the man. Having said that, I can't think of a car company that would take such a chance."
Porsche avoid such risks altogether by avoiding any direct connection with celebrities. According to James Pillar of their UK marketing division, they would never attempt stop someone buying a Porsche.
"We wouldn't stop someone from buying our car on the basis of their reputation, we wouldn't be that arrogant," he says. "If Mike Tyson wanted to buy a car from us we would be delighted to sell him one, although we would advise him to purchase the car in America, where Porsches are available to American specifications.
"We are asked almost on a monthly basis by tabloid newspapers to provide them with the names of celebrity Porsche owners, and we only ever give the name of someone who has already publically expressed their preference for a Porsche," he says.
"We're a small manufacturer and we can't afford to provide fleets of our cars to celebrities. We sell just 3,500 cars a year in the UK - we operate in a niche within a niche. Having said that we do have many celebrity customers," concludes Pillar, demonstrating a canny knack of having it both ways.
Ferrari are similarly reticent about their celebrity owners, perhaps unsuprisingly given that three of the most high-profile - David Beckham, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke - all found themselves in court in the last three months for various motoring misdemeanours. Such associations are a predictable consequence of appealing to the rich and occasionally reckless, but by refusing to offer an opinion, Ferrari at least limit the damage such events cause to their glossy reputation.
Jaguar, alone among luxury sports car manufacturers, openly court celebrity. The marque that once conjured images of Arthur Daley, Inspector Morse and getaway cars in the Sweeney now provides cars for squeeky clean footballers Michael Owen and Alan Shearer. Spokesman Ken McConomy acknowledges that there is a risk involved in such deals but says, in the case of Shearer and Owen, it's minimal. "These people are carefully selected. They're reliable role models. People like them represent successful young customers, which we like to attract - and importantly, they are British."
As if to demonstrate just how carefully selected their celebrity drivers are, McConomy reveals that England rugby captain, Martin Johnson, was given an S Type in September last year. Lawrence Dallaglio, on the other hand, was not approached.
